Concrete And Gold review by Foo Fighters

Sound — 9
A new album from one of the hardest rocking bands alive fronted by the legendary Dave Grohl is definitely an event in history. The promotion campaign before the release of "Concrete and Gold" started off with the promising killer-single "Run" which if not one of the most energetic but definitely one of the heaviest Foo Fighters' singles to this day. After the announcement of an indefinite hiatus in 2016 and a failed attempt at recording an album in front a crowd of 20,000 people (Dave declined that idea upon learning that PJ Harvey had already done it with "The Hope Six Demolition Project"), the guys are back on track with the perfect come-back.

As for the musical side of the album "Concrete and Gold" is more colorful then it's predecessor "Sonic Highways" (which actually was a pretty decent album). It has its own unique sound. The sound of Foo Fighters is stepping into the previously unknown territories but at the same time being easily recognizable. As Dave described it himself, it's a sound of "hard rock extremes, and pop sensibilities collide." For the first time in their career the band recruited producer of Grohl's favorite indie pop band The Bird and the Bee, Greg Kurstin (who is also responsible for Adele's "Cheap Thrills" and SIA's "The Greatest" songs). It was a completely new experience even for Greg - because he has never worked on a rock album before. And he succeeds in it. Just listen to the bluesy warmth-at-the-bottom-of-the-bottle "The Sky is a Neighborhood" or bursting & pulsating "La Dee Da." Aside from the great melodies and the producer, we can find a big list of collaborators who have added additional stunning flavor to that record. Alison Mosshart from The Kills contributed vocals to "La Dee Da" & "The Sky is a Neighborhood," David Koz played saxophone on "La Dee Da, " and even Paul McCartney played drums on "Sunday Rain." Going further - you can hear Justin Timberlake on "Make It Right." A massive load of work's been done, and it sounds great.

Lyrics — 9
As a lot of Americans do nowadays, Grohl is also worried about the future of the US. He admitted that on this album we could hear his thoughts about The United States "politically, personally, as a father, an American and a musician." It is beautifully reflected in the opening statement of the album, "T-Shirt":

"There's one thing that I have learned If it gets much better, it's going to get worse And you get what you deserve."

Vital and even touching "Run" and "The Line" both deal with the theme of escaping. Escaping from anything. From reality, news, or even your own mistakes.

"Before the time runs out There's somewhere to run Wake up Run for your life with me Wake up Run for your life with me."

The moody, more fragile parts can also be found here, as in "Sunday Rain" for instance:

"Concrete and Gold" is an exciting and even touching record in terms of lyrics and poetry.

Overall Impression — 9
We want that album to be stepping stone for the contemporary rockers. We want it to influence lots of future records. As well as the recent "Villains" by Queens Of The Stone Age. "Concrete and Gold" by Foo Fighters is a definite statement that they are in a full force-mode. On this Grohl acts as an amazing composer and lyricist. Every song is in its own place, and every word in each song sounds meaningful. Famous and respected guests did not interrupt his storytelling. This album is a wonderful soundtrack for the coming years, isn't it?

I moderately enjoyed the album, and I'm glad they've reached a point in their career where they can write in whatever style they like and still be successful, but I felt that overall the record didn't hold up compared to their best. Which isn't totally unexpected since they've been making music for such a long time, and I'm happy to support one of the few bands still carrying the dimming torch of rock music, but I'm just a tiny bit sad that most likely their best has long passed. Hopefully I'm wrong.

I can totally see your point, but I also think "best" is open for debate stylistically. I personally think that this and Wasting Light are two of their "best" albums, but that's because I genuinely enjoy how their sound has evolved and matured away from just straight rock & roll. A lot of people might say The Sound & The Shape just because of the hits or it being the definitive sound for Foo Fighters. To each their own, but I'm with you on one thing: they're definitely keeping rock alive.

You know, they've really managed to pull together a lot of "mood," for lack of a better word, on this album.
A key aspect of this is how central the backing vocals are to the overall sound.
Beautiful album, very mature, and very re-listenable.

this review has to be written by a massive Foo Fighters fan, he didn't say one bad thing about the album, I listened to it about 6 times through and Sunday Rain is probably the best song, Wasting Light was way better and The Colour and The Shape is still their best album

Concrete and Gold wasn't their best but it wasn't their worst either. My two favorites are TCATS and TINLTL.
Sonic Highways was a major let down and my least favorite, outside of 1 by 1. Of course the documentary does make the songs more memorable and understood but overall, just not a great album.
For me Concrete and Gold was familiar but different enough to spark some new emotions, outside of the regular Foo Fare. It is a solid album and a great upgrade from Sonic Highways, although not as totally strong as Wasting Light.
Either way, I enjoyed this direction and hope they experiment a bit more. It felt like a similar step to Pearl Jam with Lightning Bolt, a more mature, listenable, and musical jump.

I pretty much stopped listening to this band halfway through the Wasting Light album cycle. There were a lot of songs from it that seemed inescapable at the time and I just got sick of the band. Sonic Highways was a good watch but the music it produced was mediocre. So the band went into my "used to be good" file.
But this album is awesome. Probably the best since In Your Honor. I get strong Beatles vibes from it in terms of variety and melody. The guest spots aren't big name drops in the song, just subtle wee additions. Total package Foo Fighters in the best possible way!

Wasting Light is a good album (so good that radio thrashed the crap out of it and ruined a few songs for me) but I've given C & G a few listens and I find it quite boring and uninspiring. Run is still a great track though.

Too much production. Run is the only decent song. The rest are lame are a lame as fuck snooze fest of pop drivel. Dave wishes he could write something tough, but he is just too nice. Nice has no place in quality rock and roll. It's a shame he's surrounded himself with yes men who love making money instead of growing a set of balls.

Nah, I argue it makes sense for One by One. Dave rewrote it after being IN QOTSA.
Listen to the original version of "Come Back" versus the re-recorded, post-dave-in-queens version. It's the best example.

For sure!!! I am not a Foo fan, but after hearing "The Sky Is A Neighborhood" I had a listen. I am a huge Queens fan and thought this Foo album sounded more Queens than Villains does. But hey, I thought Villains was pretty bad with only a couple decent songs. Haven't touched that album after the first week it was released.